ABSTRACT
Women patrons were mostly members of the elite, namely wealthy and patrician townswomen, and members of gentry, noble and royal families. Much of her patronage was linked not just with her equals but with her family. In the spring of 1501, Bellini was fully occupied with his work on the Doge's palace and he disliked the allegorical subject suggested by Isabella, especially if it was to hang beside Mantegna's paintings. Isabella was successful in obtaining a painting of the Battle of Love and Chastity from Perugino, although it was nearly three years before the work was delivered. Most of the work discusses the princess and the women of the court; this would be particularly relevant to Margaret de Nevers, and Christine had had most opportunity to observe women in this group. Royal and noble patrons, and the work of women illuminators and of writers such as Christine de Pisan, show that women were undoubtedly significant in the world of culture.
